1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Hey, you 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,760 Speaker 1: were doing some Canadian history, but it's also Halloween. Uh 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: so that means this one is a little bit on 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: the darker side. This one is a murder mystery sort of. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: We know what happened and who was involved, but the 8 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: details of what led to everything happening the way it 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: did are a little fuzzy, and there are a lot 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: of things that have been it seems like, systematically erased 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: from the historic record. Um so this one remains a mystery. 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: Heads up, we do want to let you know this 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: episode involves a lot of discussion of a domestic violence 14 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: incident that involves guns. It also involves speculation in the 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: press about the mental health of those involved. But this 16 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: is about what's often called the Red Path murders. On 17 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: June thirte, Aida Maria red Path, who is fifty nine, 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: and her son Jocelyn Clifford, aged were found shot to 19 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: death in their home, which was known as the Red 20 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: Path Mansion. We're going to talk about that in the 21 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: behind the scenes but more than a hundred and twenty 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: years later, what exactly happened to lead to those death 23 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: remains unknown. We know how they died, but why is 24 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: probably something we're never gonna understand. So we want to 25 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: tell their story. But first we're gonna start by talking 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: about AIDA's life and the lives of two of her 27 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: children who are closest to this strange tragedy. Ada Maria 28 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: Mills was born in April two and to a well 29 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: off family. Her father, John Easton Mills, was a well 30 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: known and successful businessman. He died when Ada was still 31 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: a small child. He was, um I believe, the mayor 32 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: of Montreal when he died. He had held that post 33 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: for I think less than a year at the time, 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: but that's kind of illustrative of how how well known 35 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: and how prominent he was. Aida married John James Redpath 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: in Putney, England, when she was twenty five. Because she 37 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: was from a well off family, Aida and John had 38 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: a marriage contract that reads kind of like a modern premup. 39 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,799 Speaker 1: It stated that she would retain total control of her 40 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: own wealth and assets. It's often referred to as wording, 41 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: being as though she had never married, so like literally 42 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: completely siloed off away from her husband's money. She would 43 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: later insist that her daughter would have the same financial 44 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: autonomy should she ever choose to marry John. James Redpath 45 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: was himself from a wealthy family. His father, John Redpath Senior, 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: had moved to Canada from Scotland in the early nineteenth 47 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: century and made a fortune in construction, and he used 48 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: that fortune to purchase more than two hundred acres of 49 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: land on Mount Royal, just northwest of Montreal. He subdivided 50 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: this land and resold a lot of it, and his 51 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: other wealthy families purchased the land and built on it. 52 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: This established a really wealthy neighborhood that came to be 53 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: known as the Square Mile. Over the next hundred years, 54 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: the community of the Square Mile neighborhood became more and 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: more intertwined. A lot of families became linked through various 56 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: marriages amongst themselves. Uh yeah, And all of those families 57 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: also kind of made a lot of business deals with 58 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: each other, so their wealth kind of kept folding in 59 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: on itself, and they, like I said, it became this 60 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: little enclave. When John and Ada married, John was working 61 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: in the red Path family sugar refinery he had been 62 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: a partner in the firm at that point for several years, 63 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: but he didn't stay in that industry for a very 64 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: long time after the marriage though, and he actually left 65 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: it to join the Victoria Rifles. That's a volunteer military 66 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: regiment based in Montreal that had formed in eighteen sixty two. 67 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: And that seems like sort of a good indication that 68 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: John really did not have to worry about income. Aida 69 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: and John had five children over the course of eight years, 70 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: starting in eighteen sixty eight. They were Amy, Peter, John, 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: Reginald Harold, and Jocelyn Clifford, who went by Clifford. Aida 72 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: had been the one to purchase the family home at 73 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: ten sixty five Sherbrooke Street West in the Square Mile. 74 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: She did that with her family money in eighteen seventy. 75 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: We'll talk about the house so bit more on Friday. Yeah, 76 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: there's a little bit of confusion about which house was 77 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: the house. Doing research, looking for a picture to put 78 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: on our social media for this, I sarted to look 79 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: at a lot of incredibly similar looking houses from right 80 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: on that same street. Yeah, this is also a problem 81 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: where um, there's more than one house called the Red 82 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: Path Mansion, in this area. So at some point in 83 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: her life, though, Ada began having a variety of health problems. 84 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: This is a little bit tricky because the specific nature 85 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: of those issues is hard to pin down. She was 86 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: treated for a lot of different things, both physical and psychological, 87 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: including trigeminal neuralgia, melancholy, and joint pain. Any readings that 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: the family wrote about her, it generally described her in 89 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: ways that kind of characterize her as just being frail 90 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: or fragile. By the time she was in her forties. 91 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: It also seems like she was away from her home 92 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: and her children a lot for treatments for these various problems. 93 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: In an undated letter that she sent the family from 94 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: New York while she was being fitted for braces for 95 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: her joint problems, she wrote, quote, my dear children, the 96 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: doctors say that it would be much better if I 97 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: could remain until Monday. They want me to get quite 98 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: accustomed to my new brace before I leave, and find 99 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: out all its faults, so that they can send me 100 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: home in good order and comfortable, for they do not 101 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: want me to have to come back here very very soon. 102 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: You see, there is no one in Montreal who can 103 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: alter the brace. And change it if it should hurt me, 104 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: and it is better that I should stay here until 105 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: they have made it fit well. It has hurt me dreadfully, 106 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: but every day they make some little change, and tonight 107 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: it is more comfortable, although not quite right yet. And 108 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: I cannot walk at all yet without my crutches. It 109 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: stretches my legs so much that it makes it an 110 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: inch longer than the well leg hand. Doctors say that 111 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: I must let them put a thick three quarter inch 112 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: soul on the boot of my well foot. If they 113 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: do this, poor Harold will think me more of a 114 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: giant than ever. But never mind. If only they will 115 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: let me go home, I will be willing to wear 116 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: anything they please. And bless you, my darlings, will be 117 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: so glad to see your mother that you won't stop 118 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: to find fault with her looks. God, bless you, my 119 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: precious children, your loving mother. After AIDA's husband, John James 120 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: Redpath died on June four, Ada relied increasingly on her children, 121 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: particularly her only daughter, who was also her oldest child. 122 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: That was Amy and her youngest son, Clifford. Amy was 123 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: born on May six, eighteen sixty eight, the year after 124 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: Ada and John were married. The red Paths lived abroad 125 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: during their early marriage, so Amy was born in Europe 126 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: and then arrived in Canada when she was still a 127 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: small child. From an early age, Amy was deeply devoted 128 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: to her family, although we don't really know if this 129 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: was just her natural tendency or if it was because 130 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: she knew. The expectation was that she would need to 131 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: help with running the house and caring for her younger siblings. 132 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,559 Speaker 1: Was really routinely expected of unmarried daughters at the time 133 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: that they would fill a role of that nature within 134 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: their family, and Amy had never expressed any obvious interest 135 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: in marriage or even mentioned any suitors in her writing 136 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: growing up. This of course led to various speculations. Uh yeah, 137 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: we'll talk about some of the was on Friday as well. 138 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: Jocelyn Clifford Redpath was born on November seventeen, eighteen seventy six, 139 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: and although his sister Amy was only eight, she was 140 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: one of his sponsors slash godparents at his baptism. Clifford, 141 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: who also went by cliff, studied at McGill University, and 142 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: he joined the law program there in eighteen ninety seven. 143 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: Once he started studying law, he also started apprenticing at 144 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: the law firm of Campbell, Meredith, Allen and Hague, and 145 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: he was on track for a law career when he 146 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: graduated in nineteen hundred and started to study for the 147 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: bar exam. By the end of the eighteen hundreds, only 148 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: Amy and Clifford were still at home with Ada, and 149 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: they took care of her. Amy ran the house and 150 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: Clifford managed the finances with advice from his older brothers 151 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: and uncles. To be clear, while they were their mother's 152 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: primary companions, they weren't managing her care alone. There was 153 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: also a full house staff who Amy hired and managed, 154 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: including an nurse, but they were put in the position 155 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: of being the heads of the household. Ada would travel 156 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: to upstate New York in the summers to spend time 157 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: in specialty clinics or health resorts, and Clifford usually traveled 158 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: with her. On one occasion in when Ada was traveling 159 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: with her older son Peter instead of Clifford, she was 160 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: so clingy with Amy at the train station she was 161 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: set to leave that Amy decided she had to go 162 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: with their mother as well, even though she did not 163 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: have any luggage or travel gear with her. Yeah, she 164 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: wrote in a letter to I believe it was a 165 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: cousin about like, I'm going to Sarahtoga Springs and I 166 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: don't even have gloves. She just was like, I have nothing. Um. 167 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: Amy and Clifford were also very close, and they spent 168 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: a lot of time together, even when it was not 169 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: necessitated by their household duties and responsibilities. So they would 170 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: attend social gatherings and church together. They often took long 171 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: walks together, and Amy helped cliff with his law studies. 172 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: Would even rewrite the notes that he had taken during 173 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: lectures so that they would be easier for him to 174 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: study when he was studying for the bar, basically like 175 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: she was writing study guides for him. Clifford was also 176 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: very very close with their mother. In a letter to 177 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: Clifford in AIDA's attachment to her youngest son is a parent, 178 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: she wrote, quote, Dearest, Oh, how I miss you. I 179 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: have come so to depend on you that I am 180 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: lost without you. Nothing seems worthwhile without you, your most 181 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: loving old mother. Though she was still only in her 182 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: late fifties, by nineteen o one, when the shooting took place, 183 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 1: AIDA's health had declined to the point that she spent 184 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: her time almost exclusively in her bedroom, and she had 185 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: stopped attending even family events. Cliff on the other hand, 186 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: seemed to have a life that was just on the 187 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: precipice of real success. In early June of nineteen o one, 188 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: there were discussions at the law firm where he had 189 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: apprenticed about making him a partner once he passed the bar. 190 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: That never happened. We're going to talk about how the 191 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: tragedy in the Red Path Home unfolded, but first people 192 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. So we mentioned at the 193 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: top of the episode that Ada and Clifford were quote 194 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: found dead, and that is often how it's reported, But 195 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: to me, that wording tends to convey this sense of distance, 196 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: like the house had been empty except for them, or 197 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: that they had been dead for some period of time 198 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: before being found, or that there could be questions about 199 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: if someone else had been in the house. None of 200 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: that was the case. It was absolutely not. They had 201 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: been discovered immediately because there were plenty of other people 202 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,679 Speaker 1: in the house when the shots were fired. Those people 203 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: heard the shots and they went to investigate right away. 204 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: That's sort of hazy and confusing. Sense of them being 205 00:11:55,280 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: discovered later started immediately in the press. The Calgary Old 206 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: ran a brief notice about the deaths that read, in 207 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: part quote, Mrs John Jay Redpath of Sherbrooke Street, a 208 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: widow lady and her son were found dying in their 209 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: house and Mrs Redpath's room late in the night from 210 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: bullet wounds in the heads. The son is in the 211 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: hospital unable to make a statement. The mother died within 212 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: an hour without making a statement. All of this actually 213 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: happened around six pm, So the late in the night 214 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: statement it's not really correct. No, there's a lot of 215 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: incorrect stuff as well. Discuss um. As we said, there 216 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: were other people home. The oldest of the red path sons, Peter, 217 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: was there. He heard the gunfire and he ran right 218 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: to the sound, which was, as we said, in his 219 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: mother's room. There were also members of the house staff 220 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: in the home who also went to the room. Ada 221 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: did die on the scene. Some reports say she died instantly, 222 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: others make it sound like she may have died a 223 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: few minutes after being owned. Clifford was still alive, although unconscious, 224 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: and he was reportedly taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital. 225 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: He died that night at eleven or eleven fifteen or 226 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: maybe eleven fifty, maybe shortly after midnight, depending on what 227 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: account you read. Incidentally, he was never registered in hospital 228 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: records as having been admitted to the Royal Victoria or 229 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: to any other hospital. This is one of just a 230 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: lot of small inconsistencies and gaps and the information about 231 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: the shooting that have kept people scratching their heads for 232 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: more than a century. As soon as this tragedy hit 233 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: the news, there were rumors about what had really happened 234 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: in the Red Path home, and there were a lot 235 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: of factors that fueled the spread of those rumors. For one, 236 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: the red Paths were very, very wealthy. They were from 237 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: a largely insular community of similarly wealthy families, so people 238 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: naturally had a tendency to want to speculate. But for another, 239 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: the sheer shock of a tragedy like this just lad 240 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: people to speculate about it. But there were really three 241 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: very significant contributing factors. One, there was little investigation into 242 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: the shootings to the family was largely unwilling to discuss 243 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: the matter publicly. Now, on the one hand, this is 244 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: totally understandable. Who would want to talk about the sudden 245 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: murder suicide of two family members while grieving and likely 246 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: in shock, but because no one from the house was 247 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: saying very much, they're quiet, started to be framed as 248 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: possibly covering something up and three the details kept changing 249 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: from report to report. One idea was that Ada had 250 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: a mental break that was brought on by ongoing insomnia 251 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: and that somehow led to the shooting. This is the 252 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: narrative that came up in news reports immediately after the tragedy. 253 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: The Sherbrock Daily Record of Montreal printed the following on 254 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: June fourteenth, quote, A very ad affair occurred last evening. 255 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: For some months, Mrs jj Redpath had been a confirmed invalid, 256 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: one of the characteristics of her malley being prolonged insomnia. 257 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: About six o'clock, the household heard an explosion, and, hurrying 258 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: to her room, found both Mrs Redpath and her son, Mr. 259 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: Clifford Redpath seriously wounded by revolver shot. Mrs Redpath died 260 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: in a short time. Her son was removed in an 261 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: unconscious condition to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where he expired 262 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: about midnight. Neither could give any account of what had happened. 263 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: A right up in the Weekly News Advertiser of Vancouver, 264 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: British Columbia offered similar speculation, offering quote, no details of 265 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: the tragedy are known. Mrs Redpath had been ill for 266 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: some time, suffering from insomnia. The surmise is that while 267 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: temporarily mentally deranged, Mrs Redpath attempted to end her life, 268 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: and in attempting to prevent her, her son was shot. 269 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: The unfortunate lady then completed her undertaking. But the Ottawa 270 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: Citizen had a different take. Yes, Ada was having issues 271 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: with mental health because of insomnia, but she wasn't dangerous 272 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: because of it. Their right up states quote who was 273 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: responsible for the tragedy is yet a mystery. For some years, 274 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: Mrs Redpath has suffered greatly from insomnia, to such an 275 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: extent that her mind was affected. Dr Roddick had been 276 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: in constant attendance upon her, but it was not imagined 277 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: that her condition was at all likely to result in 278 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: violence to herself or the members of her family. Another 279 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: account from the Quebec Daily Mercury seems to state as 280 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: fact the idea that Clifford murdered his mother and then 281 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: himself in a drunken rage. Quote it has transpired in 282 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: connection with the red Path tragedy that Clifford red Path 283 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: shot his mother and then put two bullets in his 284 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: own head. They had been quarreling for some time, and 285 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: young red Path is said to have been under the 286 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: influence of liquor at the time of the tragedy. The 287 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: young man was a law student. The actual findings of 288 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: the coroner's inquest were different from all of these theories, 289 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: and it happened very quickly, as in the day after 290 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: the shooting is when the inquest was held, and the 291 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: coroner's jury was made up of members of wealthy families 292 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: from the small square mile community. There were John Dunns Jr. H. Browning, Lansing, 293 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: Lewis ECB. Fanshaw, George Hyde, Bartlett McLennan, Francis McLennan, John Walker, W. Maurice, 294 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: John Savage, W. W. Watson, Charles Esdley and Herbert Wallace. 295 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: The Halifax Morning Harold reported quote investigation by the coroner's 296 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: jury today put a new light on the red Path 297 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: tragedy of yesterday. The evidence showed that Mrs Redpath had 298 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: been shot twice, once in the back of the head 299 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: and then a second time in the right shoulder while 300 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: the bullet had entered young red pass head to the 301 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: right of the left temple. The jury brought in a 302 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: verdict that the young man had killed his mother in 303 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: a fit of temporary insanity brought on by an epileptic fit, 304 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: and then taken his own life. The first story given 305 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: out by the family that the shooting had probably been 306 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: done by the mother was due to the fact that 307 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: the young man was still alive. I feel like we 308 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: should just note that a lot of the language being 309 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: used to discuss things like epilepsy and mental illness completely outdated, 310 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: very outdated and offensive by today's standards, So like, just 311 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: don't go repeating it in casual conversation. Uh. This also 312 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: brings into focus one detail that changed repeatedly about all this. 313 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: Although initial accounts for multiple sources stated that there were 314 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,199 Speaker 1: two shots, there was one account in a paper that 315 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: Clifford had shot himself twice, and then this account which 316 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: said that he had shot his mother twice. That would 317 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: be three shots total. So that's just a another aspect 318 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: of all this that was inconsistent. Now, subsequent testimonies and 319 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: we're going to get to those in a moment, do 320 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 1: support that three shots number. It seems like some papers 321 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: may have run on the assumption that it was just 322 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: too in their haste to get the news to print. 323 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: As we said, we're reading these news reports that are 324 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: happening like day of But that is also the kind 325 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: of detail that you might think would surely show up 326 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,160 Speaker 1: in a police report. Of course it would. Hey, there 327 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: isn't one because there was no police investigation. A coroner's 328 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: jury was assembled there at the home, but there was 329 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: never a police presence. They were never called. Now how 330 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: the coroner ended up there but the police didn't is 331 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: a little unclear, although it is most likely that someone 332 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: from the house staff or the family called the coroner 333 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 1: and McMahon through some sort of personal connection. The Weekly 334 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: News Advertiser of Montreal even noted in an article about 335 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: the shooting quote the family refused any information and the 336 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: lease only heard of the matter by accident. The family 337 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: have issued a statement, but from it nothing can be 338 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: learned of the details of the tragedy beyond the fact 339 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: that two people are dead. We'll get into the details 340 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: of those witness testimonies to try to unravel this thing 341 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: a bit after we first pause to hear from the 342 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep the show going. There were several witness 343 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 1: statements that were given and heard by the coroner's jury. 344 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: Those statements were given by Peter Redpath, Ada son and 345 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 1: Clifford's older brother Thomas George Roddick, the family doctor Hugh Patton, 346 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: and Rollo Campbell, both of whom were doctors. Rose Shallow 347 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,199 Speaker 1: who worked for the Red Path. Sometimes her name is 348 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: written as Rosa, but it appears to have actually been 349 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: Rose and Charles James Fleet, who also worked in the home. 350 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: According to the coroner's jury report, Peter Testa five to 351 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: the details that we've already mentioned. According to Peter Redpath, 352 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: here's what happened. Quote yesterday evening, I saw my brother, 353 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: the deceased, arriving home at around six o'clock. He seemed 354 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: ill and was tired, working hard to prepare for his 355 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: bar exams. He went up to the room of my mother, 356 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: Ada Maria Mills, aged sixty two, and a few seconds 357 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: later I heard a shot from a firearm, followed by 358 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: two others. I ran up and broke down the door. 359 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: I saw my mother lying on the floor, and several 360 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: feet from her, my brother also lying in a pool 361 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: of blood. A revolver a foot away from him, near 362 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: his hand. My brother had been very nervous for some time. Incidentally, 363 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: he got his mother's age run. She was fifty nine. 364 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: So Dr Roddick also testified that he was called to 365 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: confirm the death. Roddick's testimony really is the one that 366 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 1: sets up the idea that, based on the position of 367 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: the bodies, he believed that cliff shot his mother and 368 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: then himself. Roddick is also the one that introduced the 369 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: information that cliff was epileptic, and this really establishes the 370 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: way things shook out in the jury investigation. But there 371 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 1: is a little snag here. Roddick had been in Montreal 372 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 1: on the day of the shooting, which is, you know, 373 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: not where Square Mile is. It's a little outside the city, 374 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: and by some accounts, he didn't actually get to the 375 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: Square Mile neighborhood until the following day when Dr Patton 376 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 1: gave his statement. He said that Aida had been shot 377 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,800 Speaker 1: in the back of the head and that Clifford was 378 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: shot through the left temple. Dr Campbell backed up Patton's 379 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: account and added that he thought he saw foam and 380 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,439 Speaker 1: Clifford's mouth, suggesting that as evidence that some kind of 381 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: epileptic seizure was the cause of Clifford's behavior. Rose Shallow 382 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: stated that she had hurt the shots and followed Peter 383 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 1: Redpath up the stairs to AIDA's room, and that she 384 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: had seen the two bodies on the floor a few 385 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: feet apart, as well as two revolvers near cliff heard. 386 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: Charles James Fleet stated that Dr Campbell had given him 387 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: the two revolvers from the scene to secure, which he 388 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 1: produced for the jury to show that one had been 389 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: discharged twice and the other had been discharged once. And 390 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: the matter of the death of Ada red Path. The 391 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: jury statement read quote, We the undersigned Jurors, having heard 392 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: the evidence, declare that Ada Maria Mills died at Montreal 393 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: and the thirteenth day of June one from a gunshot 394 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: wound apparently inflicted by Clifford Joscelyn red Path, while unconscious 395 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: of what he was doing and temporarily insane owing to 396 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,439 Speaker 1: an epileptic attack from which he was suffering at the time. 397 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: There is actually a very long quote from Ada red 398 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: past son Harold, which was released in a lot of 399 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: papers along with the news of the coroner's jury's findings. 400 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: In it, Harold stated that quote, I left Clifford about 401 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: two o'clock yesterday in good spirits, though somewhat unwell. In fact, 402 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: Clifford had been indisposed for some time, owing to hard 403 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: work preparing for his day examinations. No one knows just 404 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: how the affair occurred. Clifford was particularly fond of his mother. 405 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: The statement from Harold Redpath goes on to say that 406 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 1: the older brother believed that the only explanation that made 407 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,479 Speaker 1: any sense was that Clifford had some sort of quote 408 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: moment of temporary aberration and that led to the shooting. 409 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 1: The brothers had, according to Harold, been planning a trip 410 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: to Quebec so that Clifford could get in some quiet 411 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: time and continue his studying. As we said, this statement 412 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: is long. It's paragraphs long, and even though it's framed 413 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: in the right up as though it was part of 414 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: a conversation that Harold had with a reporter, it really 415 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:49,040 Speaker 1: reads like a press release. Harold may have been exactly 416 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: as well spoken as the lengthy quote makes him seem, 417 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: but his answer may also have been edited by the 418 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: paper to take out things like repetition or to improve clarity. 419 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: This also makes it seem kind of like this was 420 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: the family's one public statement that they were going to 421 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:09,639 Speaker 1: make on the matter. Yeah. If you've ever read somebody's 422 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: interview and read a press statement, they're not the same 423 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: in tone. Uh, And this one definitely, Like I said, 424 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: it reads like a press statement. There are some pieces 425 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: of information that are held up as evidence that Clifford 426 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: red Path was not in any way suicidal. One of 427 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: these is a check which he wrote to the Bar 428 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: of Montreal just two days before the shooting to pay 429 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: for his examination fee. As we mentioned earlier, he was 430 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 1: also in discussion with his bosses at the law firm 431 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 1: where he was apprenticing about becoming a partner just days 432 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: before this all happened. Uh. People that hold this theory 433 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: that Clifford was not suicidal point out that conversely, his 434 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: sister Amy's descriptions of their mother Ada in the months 435 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: leading up to the deaths describe her as being in 436 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 1: a very depressed state where she considered life quote a burden. 437 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: The funeral for Aida and Clifford was held at St. 438 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: John the Evangelist Church the day after the coroner's jury 439 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: came to their conclusion regarding the shooting. Was less than 440 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: forty eight hours after it happened. This was unusual because 441 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: they were both given a high Anglican funeral, even though 442 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: suicide and homicide would have both been disqualifiers for such 443 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: a service for Clifford. A paper written by researchers from 444 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: McGill University about the family and the deaths for the 445 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: Material Culture Review makes the case that Amy Redpath was 446 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 1: influential enough in the Square Mile community she was able 447 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: to get Clifford the formal funeral despite it really being 448 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: contrary to church policy. Both Aida and Clifford were interred 449 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 1: at Mount Royal Cemetery. Yeah. It's also pointed out often 450 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: that um in municipal records there are no suicides listed 451 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: as having occurred that year. So whether or not Amy 452 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: was influential enough to you have made sure those were 453 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: not on the record, we don't know. But Amy really 454 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: controlled the flow of information or black thereof about the 455 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 1: shooting and prevented anything else from spreading to the public. 456 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: She seems to have destroyed any discussion of the matter 457 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: that may have passed among family members and letters, and 458 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 1: wrote to her sister in law on August so, just 459 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: a little over two months after this tragedy. Quote I 460 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,919 Speaker 1: spent yesterday sorting and tearing up old letters rather a 461 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,680 Speaker 1: mournful business. One of the things that really stands out 462 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: as odd in the weeks and years following the murder 463 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: suicide was the way in which cliff was discussed within 464 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: the red Path family. In the few surviving letters, Every 465 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: note about this tragedy speaks of what an amazing young 466 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: man he was, and how adored he was, what a 467 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: loss it is that he's gone. But the same really 468 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: cannot be said for Ada. They don't say much of her. 469 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: We don't know, of course, if this is a case 470 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: where Clifford's youth played a role in shaping the way 471 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: that people in the family grieved for him, or if 472 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: there were any kind of missives that expressed anger about 473 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: his actions or spoke more mournfully about the family matriarch, 474 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: that we just don't have. It is a state valued 475 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: at a hundred and seventy nine thousand, eighty six dollars 476 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: and six cents was distributed among her heirs. Amy chose 477 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: to stay in the house where her brother and her 478 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: mother died, although the rest of the family mostly left 479 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: the Montreal area in the decade that followed the tragedy. 480 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 1: She also married Dr Thomas Roddick, who had been the 481 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: attending physician to Mrs Redpath and a key witness in 482 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: the corners inquest. Three years after the shooting, one of 483 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: the Red Path cousins, Only Doogle wrote a novel titled 484 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: The Summit House Mystery, which borrowed details from this murder 485 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: suicide at the Red Path Home in one Yeah, it 486 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: also kind of combined some details that seem like they 487 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: came from the lazy board stories, so like, it's not 488 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: something you can point to and go ha ha is 489 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: your clues. It was definitely fictionalized stuff. McGill University still 490 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: has the Red Path Library and the Red Path Museum. 491 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: Their family donated a lot of money to the university 492 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: over the years. The library's function has changed. It's now 493 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: used as a hall for large events like school ceremonies. 494 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: But the Red Path Museum, which was designed by architects 495 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: Hutchinson and Steele in eight two and has been called 496 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: the first purpose built museum in Canada, is still a 497 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: natural sciences museum. The Red Path Mansion is not a 498 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: place you can visit, though it no longer exists. The 499 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: home was demolished in nineteen fifty six. Amy had died 500 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: two years prior, and the property was purchased by a 501 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: development company. We will, of course, never know what exactly 502 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: happened in Ada's bedroom on June thirteenth, nineteen o one. 503 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: We know that both of those people died by gunshot, 504 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 1: but because of how the whole incident was handled, it 505 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,479 Speaker 1: can be difficult to trust eve the official record on 506 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: the matter of who shot who, and we have no 507 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: idea what may have transpired between Ada and Cliff to 508 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: catalyze their tragic debts. If there was any insight into that, 509 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:16,520 Speaker 1: it seems that Amy Redpath probably destroyed it. One thing 510 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: we haven't talked about regarding the red Path family and 511 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: Amy in particular, is that she was a writer. She 512 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: wrote a number of closet dramas. Those are plays that 513 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: were written to be performed either privately or not at all, 514 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: and she also wrote poetry. She wrote two poems about 515 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: her brother Cliff after he died. We don't know of 516 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: any that she wrote for her mother. One of her 517 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: poems to Clifford, which is titled perfect in My Promise, 518 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: clearly shows her working through her grief and an effort 519 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: to find peace in the loss of her brother. So 520 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: that seems like a good place to end this one. 521 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: Perfect in my promise as the butt unfolding, perfect in 522 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: myself as rose, fresh blown, ever gracious all that's pure 523 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: and good, upholding perfect spirit. Hast Thou really flown? Must 524 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: I dwell alone? The many dismal morrows, far from blissful 525 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: hope together spanned, hope of service through assuaging dearth and sorrows, 526 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,959 Speaker 1: hope of golden deeds together planned, No the heavy morning 527 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: weeds I tear as under struggle from the clouds that 528 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: black and around close my ears to their unholy woesome 529 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: thunder rise, anwe to life from grief, unbound perfect spirit. 530 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: Now I know that Thou art near me, and thy 531 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: prescient calm. I rest content, trusting in thy love to 532 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: guard and help and steer me till I too have 533 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: reached life's high ascent. Not the most HALLOWEENI of HALLOWEENI episodes, 534 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: but you know, a mystery murderer seemed like the right 535 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: fit for today. You have some listener man for us, 536 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: I sure do. It's about an older episode and an 537 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,959 Speaker 1: artist that I love, because that seems like a pepper 538 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: place to land. This. This is from our listener Andy, 539 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy. I've been listening to 540 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: the podcast since ish and I'm always trying to come 541 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: up with a good reason to write you. Well, this 542 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: may or may not actually be a good reason, but 543 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: it made me think of you as an assign. Just 544 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: write us and say hi, um, and also hello. If 545 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: you're going to talk about art, that's always a very 546 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: good reason. Andy writes, I was in Venice recently at 547 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: the end of a three month trip around Europe, and 548 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: the Palazzo Ducale had a special showing of Artemisia Gentileski's 549 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy on loan from a private collection. 550 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: To be honest, I think a lot of people brushed 551 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 1: past it, and I wouldn't have even known who Artemisia 552 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: Gentileski was if it wasn't for the podcast, so I 553 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,480 Speaker 1: kind of felt like I was in on a secret. 554 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: I wish I had some insightful info to add here, 555 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: but this is mostly just me popping in to say hello, 556 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: And you don't really want the deluge of all the 557 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: history nursery I soaked up on the trip, though, I 558 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: suspect you, two of all people would appreciate it. Thank 559 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: you for all the work you do. Cheers Andy. Uh 560 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: This also has photos of that painting and Venice and 561 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: her cat and uh Andy's cat Luna, which is always 562 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: a delight. Luna is very very cute and and is 563 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: wearing a kicky little red sweater and looks adorable. Andy, 564 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: thank you so much. No I. I love hearing that 565 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 1: people you know appreciate it art in a new way 566 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,160 Speaker 1: because of the show. That's a great honor to us. 567 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: But also lucky. Um. Anytime there's a painting like that 568 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: that's normally in a private collection and not in a 569 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: public view and then goes up as a learner, that's 570 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: kind of a thrill. So I'm glad you got to 571 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:41,959 Speaker 1: see it, and I'm glad you shared that with us. 572 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can 573 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. 574 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as Missed 575 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: in History, and if you haven't subscribed to the podcast 576 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: yet easiest Pie, you can do that on the I 577 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: heart Radio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 578 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 579 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio, 580 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you 581 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:17,800 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. H